Mobile operators are beginning to use wireless networks such as wireless local area networks based on the IEEE standard 802.11 or Wi-Fi networks to offload traffic from radio access networks (RAN) or mobile networks such as, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), cdma2000, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE Advanced (e.g. 2G/3G/4G and beyond). Most of the current Wi-Fi deployments are totally separate from mobile networks, and are regarded as non-integrated. The usage of Wi-Fi is mainly driven due to the free and wide unlicensed spectrum and the increased availability of Wi-Fi technologies in UEs. In addition, the end user is more proficient at using Wi-Fi, for example, at their homes and offices.
UE as described herein may comprise or represent any device used for wireless communications. Examples of user equipment that may be used in certain embodiments of the described wireless and mobile networks are wireless devices such as mobile phones, mobile terminals, terminals, stations (e.g. in the IEEE 802.11 standard a UE may be a station (STA)), smart phones, portable computing devices such as lap tops, handheld devices, tablets, net books, computers, personal digital assistants, machine-to-machine devices such as sensors or meters (e.g. wireless devices in which there is no end user associated with the device), and other wireless communication devices that may connect to wireless and/or mobile networks.
The different business segments for Wi-Fi regarding integration possibilities can be divided into mobile operator hosted/controlled vs. 3rd party hosted/controlled Wi-Fi access points. A 3rd party is considered to be anything else other than the mobile operator, 3rd party APs are typically not totally “trusted” by the mobile operator. A 3rd party could be, for example, a Wi-Fi operator or even an end-user. In both segments there exist public/hotspot, enterprise and residential deployments.
There are various types of Wi-Fi integration to mobile networks, for simplicity, the notation of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) networks using System Architecture Evolution (SAE)/LTE nodes are described. However, similar or like network entities or nodes may be used in any other mobile network, for example, 2G/3G/4G and beyond mobile networks such as GSM, W-CDMA, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Enhanced-UTRAN, LTE, and LTE-Advanced.
Wi-Fi integration towards the mobile core network (also known as cellular core network) is emerging as a good way to improve the end user experience further between the cellular and Wi-Fi accesses of each operator. These solutions consist mainly of the components: common authentication between 3GPP and Wi-Fi, and integration of Wi-Fi user plane traffic to the mobile core network. The common authentication is based on automatic SIM-based authentication in both access types. The Wi-Fi user plane integration provides the mobile operator the opportunity to provide the same services, like parental control and subscription based payment methods, for the end users when connected both via 3GPP and via Wi-Fi. Different solutions are specified in standardized in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.402, and may include overlay solutions (S2b, S2c) and integrated solutions (S2a), which are currently being further developed (S2a, S2b, S2c indicating the 3GPP interface/reference point name towards the packet data network (PDN) Gateway (PDN-GW)).
FIG. 1a illustrates a simplified network architecture for a communication system 100 including a mobile network (also known as a cellular network), where the mobile network includes RAN 102 and core network 103 parts. The mobile network is illustrated as being integrated with a wireless network 104. The core network part 103 is represented by the dotted line area and the RAN 102 is represented by the dashed-dot area. The wireless network 104 is represented by the dashed area. In this example, the mobile network is a LTE based network and the RAN 102 includes an eNodeB 108 that is connected via the S1-interfaces (e.g. S1-MME and S1-U) to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 115 and a Serving Gateway (SGW) 116, respectively, of the core network part 103. The core network part 103 also includes, among other network nodes and elements, a Home Subscriber Server 121 (HSS) and Proxy-Call Session Control function (P-CSCF) 122. The eNodeB 108 serves or supports network cell 106 indicated by the dashed-double-dot area. The wireless network 104 in this example is a Wi-Fi AN that is connected to the PDN-GW 117 of core network part 103 via an S2a interface and to the 3GPP Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) Server 119 via the STa interface.
The wireless network 104 includes access point 112, which is a Wi-Fi APs. The network cell 106 and the wireless network 104 include a first UE 110. The eNodeB 108 supports or serves the first UE 110. As shown, the first UE 110 is in communication with the eNodeB 108 of RAN 102 and is in communication with the wireless network 104 via Wi-Fi AP 112. The wireless AP 112 is connected to a wireless access controller (AC) 113, which in this example is a Wi-Fi AC. The wireless AC 113 is may connect the wireless network 104 to further IP Networks (e.g. the Internet) directly or via PDN GW 117 via core network part 103. The wireless AC 113 is also in communication with the 3GPP AAA Server 119, for use in authorizing the UE 110 in accessing the mobile network via the wireless network 104.
Although the above describes one deployment option, it is to be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that there are multiple deployment options for integrating a mobile network with a wireless network. Some examples may include: connecting the wireless AC 113 to a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) (not shown) to connect the wireless network 104 to the further IP networks 118 and PDN GW 117; collocating the wireless AP 112 with a Residential Gateway (RG), deploying the wireless AP 112 and wireless AC 113 without a BNG as in the example above; or even deploying the wireless AP 112 with an RG and a BNG but without an wireless AC 113. In addition, it is to be appreciated that there are multiple options for terminating/connecting the S2a interface. Some further examples include, connecting the S2a interface between a wireless AP 112/RG and PDN GW 117; between wireless AC 113 and PDN GW 117 (as shown in the FIG. 1a example); between BNG and PDN GW 117; or between a dedicated Trusted wireless local area network (WLAN) Access Gateway (TWAG) and PDN GW 117.
In essence, legacy UEs with Wi-Fi capability may access the wireless network 104 either directly or automatic SIM-based authentication in both access types, which guarantees the users are accessing a legitimate wireless AP. As discussed above, different standards organizations have started to recognize the need for an enhanced user experience for Wi-Fi access, which is being driven by 3GPP operators. An example of this is the Wi-Fi Alliance with the Hot-Spot 2.0 (HS2.0) initiative, now officially called PassPoint. HS2.0 is primarily geared toward Wi-Fi networks. HS2.0 builds on IEEE 802.11u, and adds requirements on authentication mechanisms and auto-provisioning support. 3GPP operators are trying to introduce additional traffic steering capabilities, leveraging HS2.0 802.11u mechanisms. HS 2.0 uses the Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) as part of the wireless access network discovery and selection function. This provides a mechanism for UEs (and legacy UEs) to request different information from APs before association with those APs, this request is carried by Generic Advertisement Services (GAS) protocol.
In addition, an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) is a 3GPP defined function that provides the possibility to send different policies to a UE for network discovery and selection. FIG. 1b illustrates the communication between a UE 110 that has been enhanced to include an ANDSF client (not shown) and an ANDSF server 120 via an IP-based S14-interface. Access Discovery Information is used to provide access discovery information to the UE 110, which can assist the UE 110 to discover available 3GPP and non-3GPP access networks without the burden of continuous background scanning. Inter-System Mobility Policies (ISMP) are policies which guide the UE 110 to select the most preferable 3GPP or non-3GPP access. The ISMP are used for UE 110 that access a single access (3GPP or Wi-Fi) at a time. Inter-System Routing Policies (ISRP) are policies which guide the UE 110 to select over which access a certain type of traffic or a certain APN shall be routed. The ISRP are used for UEs 110 that access both 3GPP and Wi-Fi simultaneously.
However, the main principle for the solutions (e.g. SIM based authentication) targeting UEs and legacy UEs, is to take action to reject/accept the access attempt only at or during the UE's Wi-Fi access attempt. These solutions are called target side based solutions. The actions can be either to reject or accept the access attempt. In the case of access rejection, the primary issue is the delay in finding a wireless network or wireless AP that is acceptable for providing access. The solution describing the ANDSF mechanism is a source side based solution, where an enhanced UE uses the received policies on the source side as a guideline before attempting to access an available network e.g. Wi-Fi. However, ANDSF solutions are only focused on supplying information of all available networks, which may not necessarily be optimal in terms of network load or dynamic changes of network load. The existing ANDSF mechanism and enhanced UE with ANDSF client are not suited for sending and receiving dynamic policies to the UE should network load or accessibility to a network change.
Therefore, there is a significant need to provide a mechanism for efficiently providing the dynamic wireless AP information to a UE that optimizes the available network and wireless access communication resources.